WGD: GAME 30: RED WINGS VS. PANTHERS
By Brock Seguin
6 years agoThe Red Wings were blown out by the St. Louis Blues on Saturday despite outshooting them 29-to-22. While that spread doesn’t seem like a huge deal, the Red Wings went into the third period down 4-0 with a 20-10 edge in shots. Goaltending was the issue in that one, leading to their eighth loss in nine games.
The Red Wings have jut three games left on their lengthy homestead, where they were playing 13 of 15 games at Little Caesars Arena. Through the first 12 games of this stretch Detroit has gone 3-5-4 while averaging 2.67 goals for and 4.00 goals against. They’ve picked up just 10 of a possible 24 points in a key part of the season.
Little Caesars Arena is a gorgeous building but it has not been friendly to the Red Wings in their first 15 games there. Detroit has gone 5-6-4 while averaging 3.00 goals for and 3.47 goals against in the first two months at their new home.
Tonight will be their second of four meetings with the Panthers and the first at LCA. Detroit won the first matchup 3-2 in shootout. Let’s see how these two teams stack up:
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| RECORD | 11-13-5 (5TH IN ATL) | 11-14-4 (6TH IN ATL) |
| GOALS FOR | 2.68 GF/PG (27th) | 2.96 GF/PG (t-15th) |
| GOALS AGAINST | 3.31 GA/PG (25th) | 3.51 GA/PG (31st) |
| POWER PLAY | 20.65% (9th) | 17.17% (23rd) |
| PENALTY KILL | 82.52% (9th) | 76.59% (27th) |
| CORSIFOR% | 49.70 CF% (15th) | 48.94 CF% (19th) |
THE RED WINGS
Detroit Red Wings lines via DailyFaceoff
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 DAN DEKEYSER #65 |  MIKE GREEN #25 |
 JONATHAN ERICSSON #52 |  TREVOR DALEY #83 |
 NIKLAS KRONWALL #55 |  NICK JENSEN #3 |
The Red Wings are expected to go with the exact same lineup as Saturday. During the morning skates all four lines and three pairings were intact. Luke Witkowski has served all 10 games of his suspension but he will be a healthy scratch tonight.
Some of the Red Wings big guns have been struggling to find the back of the net recently. Henrik Zetterberg has not scored in 22 games, Dylan Larkin is on a nine-game goalless drought and it’s been eight games for Andreas Athanasiou.
On the blueline, Nick Jensen has no goals in 29 games, Trevor Daley has zero in 27 and Danny DeKeyser, who missed some time with an ankle injury, is goalless in 12 contests.
THE PANTHERS
Florida Panthers lines via DailyFaceoff
The Panthers are coming off of a 7-3 loss to the Avalanche on Saturday, but they were without Aleksander Barkov (upper-body). Barkov was back on the ice this morning and will play against the Red Wings. The Panthers top line will be without Evgeni Dadonov though. Dadonov has missed the last seven games with a shoulder injury and is expected to be out until late-December/early-January.
The duo of Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau has been excellent this season, caring a 53.86 CorsiFor% and have been on the ice for 20 5v5 goals for in 28 games. Huberdeau leads the Panthers with 31 points (9G / 22A) in 29 games while Barkov is third on the team with 27 (10G / 17A) in 28 contests. Vincent Trocheck, who has back-to-back 20-plus goal, 50-plus point seasons leads them with 12 goals and is on-pace for 34 goals and 51 assists (85 points) in 82 games.
This will be a big game for Aaron Ekblad, who is from Windsor, Ontario as he enjoys a bit of a homecoming whenever the Panthers play in Detroit. Ekblad 12 points (6G / 6A) on the season and has seven points (1G / 6A) in 13 career games against Detroit.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Jimmy Howard vs. James Reimer. This game has the potential to be high-scoring with these two between the pipes.
Howard was dreadful in the Red Wings loss to the Blues, getting yanked after allowing four goals on 10 shots. Despite having a great outing vs. the Jets, Howard has allowed 20 goals on 106 shots (.811 SV%) in his last five games. Howard is 4-2-2 with a 2.39 GAA and .917 SV% in his career vs. the Panthers.
Reimer is the Panthers’ No.1 option with Roberto Luongo sidelined indefinitely with a groin injury. Reimer allowed five goals on 28 shots in his last start and has gone 2-1-2 while allowing 19 goals on 170 shots (.888 SV%). He started the first game against Detroit, stopping 36 of 38 shots in the shootout defeat.
HOW TO WATCH
Puck-drop is at 7:00 p.m. ET at Little Caesars Arena. You can watch the game on FoxSports Detroit or FoxSports Florida.
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